If it wasn't for online learning, many school districts might well be entirely dark this fall. But that doesn't mean parents don't have concerns about online learning.

That's according to new research released Monday by the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit organization.

Parents are overall supportive of virtual schooling, with 76 percent saying they are likely to support more online education at home, even after the threat of COVID-19 has passed. But they have big questions about data privacy issues, with 68 percent saying they are worried about "unauthorized access of online activities or unauthorized communication" with their children online.

Another 64 percent say they have qualms about student data privacy, while another 64 percent say they are worried about not being able to monitor or limit what their child sees on the internet. And 61 percent have concerns about student information security.

Those concerns, though, are dwarfed by others not relating to technology. Seventy-six percent of parents say they are worried about the quality of education their child receives, while 71 percent say bullying is a big headache.

Most studentsabout 3 out of 4have access to reliable home internet. But that number is lower for African American children, only 68 percent of whom have such access. There's also a disparity in access to printers, with 48 percent of African American families having one at home, compared to 54 percent for the United States as a whole.

The vast majority90 percentof parents say they monitor their child's internet use. And more than half say they withhold or take away technology when rules are broken, have house rules on screen-time, and have access to their child's social media, email, and other applications.

The majority of parents52 percentconsider themselves and school administrators most responsible for keeping students' data private. Another 28 percent pin the responsibility on school districts, while 27 percent say teachers are most responsible.

The survey of 1,277 parents was conducted in late spring. African American and Hispanic parents were oversampled.

Image: Getty

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What Do Parents Think of Online Learning? - Education Week

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Online Education Market Growth Ratio Analysis with Top Players Major players operating in the Online Education market are PAR Technology Corp,...

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According to campus spokesperson Janet Gilmore, UC Berkeley has spent about $10 million on implementing and upgrading the technology needed to support online learning, $4 million of which was directed toward providing technology to lower-income students.

A report published by education technology company Rootstrap found that online learning companies revenue from universities increased by 559% on average from March through July this year compared to the same time frame in 2019.

Roostrap conducted a cross-industry study of online education companies and ultimately found that customer spending has increased on average by 335%, with universities making up the largest portion of customers, according to the study. Patrick Ward, Rootstrap director of marketing, said this study is a wake-up call for universities because charging students the same tuition while spending more for online services will cause many universities to struggle.

He hopes the trends highlighted by the study lead to the democratization of education by providing courses virtually that are affordable and of high quality.

The two big components of the value proposition that a university provides, namely the social network and the physical experience, now no longer can be delivered, Ward said. And so with that reduction, they need to find new ways.

According to campus spokesperson Janet Gilmore, UC Berkeley has spent about $10 million on implementing and upgrading the technology needed to support online learning. Of that amount, $4 million was spent to provide technology to lower-income students, while the rest was for online services such as Zoom licensing and virtual advising support.

The estimated overall fiscal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to June 2021 is about $340 million, according to Gilmore. Of that loss, $200 million is from decreased campus income from sources like athletics, housing and dining, and $65 million was put toward COVID-19 efforts including cleaning, testing and remote learning transition resources.

According to Aaron Rasmussen, founder and CEO of Outlier.org, a technology company offering online courses, spending more on education technology will improve online learning effectiveness, making students more attracted to it.

Ward recommends colleges listen to their students and integrate online courses into their curriculum beyond the pandemic.

Without the limit of physical campus boundaries, and with a plethora of offerings at their fingertips, students can sample a variety of experiences in their online education, Rasmussen said in an email. Its no longer about who has a planetarium on campus or the nicest library; the emphasis is on the content and instruction.

Universities including UC Berkeley have delved into this integration of online courses through services such as Emeritus that provide the technological infrastructure to deliver courses to a broader audience outside of campus students, according to Ward.

Ward said small- and medium-sized universities are gravely at risk from increased spending for online services during the pandemic because they are smaller brands, possess smaller footprints and have smaller endowments.

There is undoubtedly a forced push for technological innovation in higher education for the time being, but the lasting effects are yet to be seen, Rasmussen said in an email.

Dina Katgara is the lead business and economy reporter. Contact her at [emailprotected] and follow her on Twitter at @dinakatgara.

Correction(s): A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Outlier.org was involved in the study. In fact, it was not involved.

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Study finds increased university spending toward education technology - Daily Californian

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Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH & Co. K YINGDING Languagenut K12 Inc New Oriental Education & Technology Bettermarks Ifdoo Beness Holding, Inc White Hat Managemen AMBO Pearson YY Inc XUEDA CDEL XRS Scoyo

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Table of Content:

1 Scope of the Report

2 Executive Summary

3 Global Online K-12 Education by Company

4 Online K-12 Education by Regions

5 Americas

6 APAC

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9 Market Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

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12 Key Players Analysis

13 Research Findings and Conclusion

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Global Online K-12 Education Market 2020 Estimated to Experience a Notable Growth in the Coming Years Know Share, Trends, Regional Analysis and...

Sometimes it seems as if Democrats are so preoccupied with opposing reopening policies, many times viewed as Republican-oriented, that they fail to consider more nuanced responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is particularly harmful as the continuing closures of public schools, libraries and playgrounds exacerbate inequality and facilitate a relapse to American individualism.

Rather than merely opposing reopening policies, Democrats should promote creative alternatives that will enable safe and equal access to public services in the COVID-19 era. Otherwise, they will end up contributing to the already alarming inequality that prevails in the U.S.

Public services are not a luxury, and their closure comes at a high cost. As we debate the way forward, we must face the implications of the disappearance of the public in the COVID-19 era. When public schools, playgrounds, pools and libraries were closed in the spring, each of us was asked to seek private shelter. For many of us, however, there is no shelter.

Weve already witnessed how the requirement to find shelter at home during the shelter in place phase in New York City, for example, wasnt as effective in stopping the spread of the virus in lower social-economic neighborhoods. Research conducted by the NYU Furman Center found that for those living in small apartments and crowded neighborhoods who cant work remotely, the private shelter was not enough. Such disparities will persist and increase if public services, and especially public schools, remain closed.

The modern economy is grounded on the ability to rely on schools to enable parents to work a 40-hour week. Without public schools, millions of American working parents are left without access to the labor market. Millions of kids are left without an adequate education.

When public schools do not offer a safe in-person alternative, parents have to find solutions based on their differential resources: paying a tutor to facilitate homeschooling while they work from home, quitting a job, or relying on their existing social networks. Some families have opted to create small pods of children, alternating adult supervision between multiple households. For many other Americans, however, this is not an option. Already underpaid, millions of working parents are required to juggle household responsibilities and paid labor. Many of them have neither the flexibility nor the means needed for alternative arrangements.

Online-only instruction is not a viable solution for millions of kids and working mothers. With limited public-school services, childrens academic prospects depend largely on their parents unequal capacities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that online learning may be damaging to all kids but disproportionately harms low-income and minority children and those living with disabilities. These students are far less likely to have access to private instruction and care and far more likely to rely on key school-supported resources like food programs, special education services, counseling, and after-school programs to meet basic developmental needs.

Online-only instruction also heightens gender inequality. For example, data on the achievements of scientists during the pandemic indicates that even middle class educated mothers are vulnerable to their childrens transition to online education, as women with young children reported a significant decrease in time dedicated to research.

The lack of a nationwide concerted effort to contain the spread of the virus is frustrating. And in locations with more severe restrictions on social and commercial activity, the numbers of cases have decreased significantly. In other words, closures work. Yet as we move forward, Americans need to generate creative solutions for safe access to public services. It is not enough at this point to resign ourselves to continued closures.

Now is the time to invest strategically and significantly in the public. Instead of saying no to reopening, advocate within your district for what can make reopening imaginable: providing tutoring services, offering smaller classes, having an outside library and schools. Extend medical health coverage and increase public school funding. With these issues at the heart of a national strategy, the American public may be preserved when COVID-19 is behind us.

Inbal Leibovits is a doctoral student in communication studies at The University of Texas at Austin.

A version of this op-ed appeared in the San Antonio Express News.

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Harm to the Public Will Only Worsen if We Don't Increase School Openings - UT News | The University of Texas at Austin

Cleo Krejci, Iowa City Press-Citizen Published 1:22 p.m. CT Sept. 23, 2020 | Updated 1:29 p.m. CT Sept. 23, 2020

COVID-19 widespread testing is crucial to fighting the pandemic, but is there enough testing? The answer is in the positivity rates. USA TODAY

Special education is inherentlyindividual.

That means when classes moved online due to the pandemic, educators, right along with their students, were challenged to meet students' individual needs while taking into account a new, online-only method of learning.

Of the more than 14,000 students in the Iowa City Community School District, about 1,500 have an IEP, or an individual education plan,as part of the district's special education program. Iowa City schools have adjusted along with the pandemic, ensuring eachIEPincludes a plan for remotelearning.

"Our students with IEPs are always general education students first," said Lisa Glenn, special education director for the district. "And so we've got to make sure and provide those accommodations and modifications so that students can access the general program. So, we have to think about those things virtually."

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About 44% of students with IEPs have opted-in to the online-only learning program,which closely tracks with the roughly 46% of overall students in the district who have done the same.

The rest of the students are in the standard enrollmentprogram, which still requires them to take some classes online when coronavirus cases are relatively low in Johnson County andthe district is in a "hybrid" learning model. Hybrid learning will begin this year on Sept. 28.

Earlier this month, the ICCSDelected to allow a small portionstudents in the special education program to receive services on-site, even if the rest of the district was in online-only mode.

"Even as we have become better and better at providing services virtually, we still have a few students for whom we have not found a good solution for and are still struggling withproviding an adequateeducation," Glenn said, notingthat the number of students impacted by the update will be small.

Education teams for those students are now able to discuss bringing them on-site for certain, targeted services, such as for studentswho use large equipment that can't be delivered to a home or who work with specialproviders.

"We would be talking about very complicated kinds of services that would just be really, really difficult to provide virtually," Glenn said.

This special education classroom at City High School in Iowa City, Iowa, is set up for in-person learning amid the coronavirus pandemic. Tables have been spaced out from one another for social distancing and are marked with tape on the floor. Students are also given individual bins with disinfected supplies.(Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen)

Learning through experience can be very beneficial for some students in special education programs, said J.P. Claussen, a school board member and former special education teacher in the district.It's also difficult to simulate online.

"For some kids, what we do in special edis we're going to teach you skills in this certain environment, which is the classroom. And then we're going to work really hard to get you to generalize those skills in other environments, including home," Claussen said.

Generalizing those skills is the hardest part do to.

"If they haven't learned to generalize those skills, the fact that you're trying to teach those skills at home without a person present...they're not going to understand what's going on. Like, 'Why is school happening at home?'" Claussen said.

Some students' IEPs require they learnskills that will support their independence after high school,like riding the city bus or crossing the street safely, which is also difficult to recreate through a computer screen.

City High School in Iowa City, Iowa, has disinfectant supplies and face shields in classrooms to protect students and staff against COVID-19. ICCSD will go into a hybrid model of learning in-person and virtually Sept. 28.(Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen)

The district also has a program that places special education students into community jobs for two hours a week. That program is on hold indefinitely due to the pandemic, although some studentsare working at in-school jobs.

The Best Buddies program, which pairs students in the special education program with students outside of it, is still in full swing this year although it's online.

School supplies: Iowa City-area groups look for community support in back-to-school drive

Stella Foster, a senior at City High, is the president of the program and has been paired with her "buddy" and friend,Kiriana, for three years.

"She is the most welcoming and friendly person," Foster says. "She makes me want to meet more people."

There arearound 40 pairs of students in the program, making 80 participants. Even more people join the activities,totaling around 300 people, Foster says. The group aims to hold all activitiespossible online.

Kiriana's mom, Nicole Horning, says her daughter has not found online classes easy. As an extremely social person, shelearns best with 1-1, in-person instruction.She also has trouble reading on screens and learns better with hands-on tools, like pencil and paper.

"Learning online is a huge challenge, because my daughter has always loved mirrors,and Zoomis kind of like a mirror. And so sometimes, it's distracting because she cansee herfriends and sayhi, and she hasn't seen themin person since spring."

Teachers have found ways to help, like:

As someone who isn't "tech savvy" himself, Tom Braverman, a special education teacher at City High,likes to use paper and pencil in the classroom and have kids read out of books, knowing those skills will be essential for life after high school.

"A lot of the students that we work with ... tend to find navigating the internet and technology cumbersome and kind of difficult,"Braverman said. "And for those students, it'shard to participate in a meaningful way. And so we'reburning the candle at both ends to try and meet their needs and make sure that they're having opportunitiesto grow and participate."

Online education also means that parents, guardians and siblings at home have had to take on the role of a special education teacher sometimes having to keep the student focused and make sure they continue with their online classes throughout the day.

"At City High, we have some pretty amazing teachers," Braverman says. "And, that being said, we also have some pretty darn amazing parents who are taking on something that they really weren't expecting to do."

Tom Braverman, a special education teacher at City High, sets up a Zoom video conference for his first period class amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, at City High School in Iowa City, Iowa.(Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen)

Horning and her husband help switch off taking notes for Kiriana during the day, a job that under normal circumstances is filled by a paraprofessional in the classroom. She knows their family is lucky,because they are able to find the time to help with online learning during the week,which is not the case for all families.

Next week, Kiriana will go back to school in-personpart of the time as hybrid learning resumes. Horningfeels like she had to chooseher daughter's education over her health in deciding whether to keep her online only.

Horning recognizes that online learning is less than optimal, but commends the teachers who are doing all they can to help.

"I feel super fortunate that we live in Iowa City that the teachers and staff genuinely care about what they're doing, and their students. And everybody is really trying to make it work," she said.

Education: Iowa City teachers to receive additional training on implicit bias, microagressions, white supremacy

Cleo Krejci covers education for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. You can reach her at ckrejci@press-citizen.comor on Twitter via@_CleoKrejci.

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How ICCSD special education teachers and families have adapted to virtual learning - Iowa City Press-Citizen

Alyssa Luther

Staff Writer

The University of Texas at Tyler sparked a lot of conversation when it announced the majority of classes for the Fall 2020 semester were going to be online. In the days following the news, students, parents, faculty, and locals spoke out on their opinion of if tuition should be lowered.

Britney Jo Wallace is a full time student in her senior year at UT Tyler. Initially, she registered for one online class and three in-person classes for the Fall semester. As of last week, only two of them are in-person and the rest are online, but this is still subject to change.

Everything that I am doing in these [online] classes, I could do on my own, Wallace said. There are no lectures, so it feels to me that I am not actually being taught and only paying for a degree.

There tends to be a blurred line between virtual learning and online courses. The majority of faculty and students dont know the difference.

Virtual learning utilizes computer softwares to deliver instruction to students whereas online classes are solely constructed to be over the Internet without synchronous meetings or recorded lectures.

I do feel that tuition should be lowered, Wallace said. I believe I am paying the same tuition for online classes that I had been for in-person lectures. It doesnt seem that I am necessarily getting what I paid for.

So, why do we believe online courses should be cheaper than in-person classes?

In reality, there have been a handful of online education colleges that have advertised they have more affordable education options. This is possible because these colleges do not have extra costs for buildings, excess staff other than professors, or taxes from the state.

Freshman marketing major Cholie Devillier expressed that she is a hands-on learner. Devillier has only one hybrid course this semester, the rest of her classes are strictly online.

I like to ask questions and get an immediate response, Devillier said. I like to verbally collaborate with my peers when I dont understand a topic. I thrive off of in-person classes.

This has not been possible for Devillier this semester. She has had to try and adapt to the new way of learning by becoming best friends with her computer screen.

I feel like I will do poorly this semester due to this reason. I dont do well staring at a computer screen all day and reading chapter after chapter on e-textbook. Im trying my best to adapt to this new way of learning, but I definitely am not a fan of it, Devillier expressed.

Online courses can cost less per student, but if more students enroll, the cost of developing the course increases. In the end, online education can actually cost more than the traditional face-to-face equivalent, especially when it is a new territory.

I dont have a definitive answer of whether [tuition] should be lowered or not, but I believe it is definitely something that should be discussed, junior Elementary Education major Whitney Bacon said.

None of her professors are using Zoom for online lectures. Instead, they have made modules on Canvas for their students to follow.

Only one of her in-person classes offer the synchronous Zoom option for the students who cannot attend class physically.

I think it will be a very long time before things are back to normal, Bacon said. This is unchartered territory for students and professors alike, so I feel the best thing we can do is respond with grace.

Whether you agree that tuition should be lowered or not, we can agree that this semester has been out-of-the-norm. Both students and professors have had to step out of their comfort zone and try to adapt to this new way of learning.

Only time will tell if Zoom University will make its appearance again next semester.

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Zoom University is the same price - The Patriot Talon

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and Donald Trump, ironically, are on the same page regarding schooling in buildings. In advocating for in-person instruction, they are both wrong. In-school sessions bring every thoughtful student fear ear that she or he is about to give a deadly virus to grandma that evening at home or later that month. That alone means that until there is a successful vaccine, in-school learning cannot be as effective as online learning.

Mark Stewart Greenstein

In-school sessions are not as good as online sessions. Masked teachers cant be heard as well as unmasked teachers teaching online. Masked teachers lose half of their face to students. And masked students fail to give teachers feedback about how their teaching is going over.

My firm helps middle schoolers and high schoolers. We have individually tutored academics and SAT prep since 2007, and we have conducted online classes for six years. When we teach online we can react to our students expressions. We also have the ability to segment students into groups; one group can move faster and grapple with higher level materials, while the other group can move slower and not feel intimidated.

The inequities of some students not owning laptops or having high-speed internet access can be ended in an instant. The money a district saves by closing (in custodial costs, insurance costs, heating costs, and maintenance costs) can pay for laptops and high-speed internet in every one of its low-income households.

In case there is an inequity in tutors, that gap is lessened because tutors are far more affordable online. My firm has tutors available online at half the rates than it would cost them to travel and work in person. (Kristof cannot responsibly speak about ending education inequities without first demanding vouchers for urban families; the biggest rich-poor education inequity ENDS within months of a state adopting a meaningful voucher program.)

What Kristof doesnt raise is the deadly inequity: Black and Latino families have grandparents at home far more frequently than white families. There will be true counseling needed in abundance when any child, of any race, carries the thought that I just put grandma on a ventilator.

Kristof writes: We need to try harder to get kids back in school. The better mantra is: We need to get school back to kids. A school BUILDING is the least important aspect of a school. And now, these monuments are impeding learning and possibly becoming the cauldron of disease.

Online learning is good and getting better. This is a GOOD opportunity to reduce inequities. Small classes are more easily done online than in person. And neat enrichment classes that are often unavailable, especially in rural areas, can be held economically online because they are not limited by geography. The mineralogist in North Dakota can teach east coast, southern, and western kids from her home computer simultaneously. The rhetoric class that got cancelled years ago can be resurrected using an accomplished law student. The environmental science class can be taught by a collaborationof teachers who might at different times be on display from a perch beside a redwood forest, above an eroded shoreline, or even at a site damaged by a storm.

In sum, this is the time for educators to support micro schools. Whether they are done by established school districts alone, or by firms specializing in online schooling that can work with school districts, or with voucher support for online schools to teach the way they know best, kids will benefit and their families will stay safe.

We are at a beautiful crossroads of school safety and school choice. Amazingly, Trump is on the wrong side of what conservatives have asked for for decades; and the New York Times columnist is on the wrong side of what protective progressives have asked for in COVID-era safety. Both are showing their establishment cards here. NOT so amazingly, parents who dont want to imperil their households are allied with teachers who by and large prefer to teach online. They now have a common enemy intransigent government administrators.

The bureaucrats have chosen to modify their in-building procedures when they should be choosing to end them and put all their efforts into wholesome online education.

Mark Stewart Greenstein of Newington is director of Ivy Bound Test Prep, a Micro School for grades K 12.

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Online education has the advantages of school safety and school choice - The CT Mirror

Director Sharon Fogle was on hand the first day of school as Los Alamos Online Learning Academy students drove by to greet teachers and pick up materials. Photo Courtesy LAPS

LAPS NEWS

While many parents and students have chosen to learn remotely this fall until schools can transition to a hybrid model and potentially, to five days a week in person learning, some families opted for a new school opportunity this year: the Los Alamos Online Learning Academy (LAOLA).

These families will continue online learning throughout the school year. The new school, headed by Dr. Sharon Fogle, has approximately 350 students enrolled in kindergarten through 8th grade. There are currently two teachers per grade for K 6, one 7th grade teacher and one 8th grade teacher. The school also offers a full range of support services for special education and guidance. For grades 9-12, LAPS has an online option called Topper Virtual Academy headed by Ms. Renee Dunwoody. TVA is designed to provide a solid path to high school graduation.

In a letter to families, Dr. Fogle said, Whether your decision was based on safety, convenience, flexibility or consistency, we want you to know that we are committed to your childs physical, social, emotional and academic well-being.

Dr. Fogle recently shared more details about the new school and the differences between remote learning and the goals of the Online Academy.

What drew you to accepting the position of Director of the Online Learning Academy?

Albert Einstein said, In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. I believe that statement sets the vision for the Online Learning Academy. As schools began to adjust their programs to deal with the current health crisis, I saw an opportunity to work alongside the district leadership to create a unique educational experience for the students and families in our school community that would offer both quality and consistency. Our goal at the Academy is for our students to learn and thrive. We are committed to accomplishing this goal by remaining focused and keeping it simple.

What isthe difference between the current remote learning and the Online Learning Academy?

Right now, all students in the district are being taught remotely. The biggest difference between the two types of schools will become more apparent when the traditional schools reopen for in-person attendance. The Academy will follow the same instructional model every day throughout the school year. This gives our teachers and studentsthe ability to focus on developing highly effective strategies for teaching and learning in the online environment.

How does the Online Learning Academy work?

Students attending the Academy participate in two types of learning experiences. We referto them as synchronous and asynchronous. Synchronous learning occurs at the same time, but not in the same place. During synchronous instruction, students learn from their teacher or peers in real-time. For the Academy, teachers and students use Google Meets for conducting face-to face learning experiences. Aside from Morning Announcements, this type of instruction is generally delivered in 15-20 minute segments with small groups of students. Synchronous instruction is scheduled in the mornings and averages between 1-2 hours depending on the grade-level.

The other type of instruction, asynchronous, is learning that occurs not only in different locations but also at different times. During asynchronous instruction, students learn by watching pre-recorded video lessons, email/chat exchanges between teachers and students, online discussion boards, completion of independent practice assignments, etc. Academy teachers use SeeSaw (K-1) and Google Classroom (2-8) to organize and manage asynchronous learning. Asynchronous learning is designed to take place in the afternoons or evenings depending on family schedules. Students may spend an additional one to three hours completing independent learning activities each day.

The Academy has three different schedules based on grade-level but they all have the same daily beginning, ending, and break times. To further help families, our schedule is the same every day of the week, Monday through Friday.

What experience do you bring to your new position?

This is my 35th year as a K-12 educator. Throughout my career, I have taught in a variety of grade levels, subjects, and settings. In my most recent role as an instructional coach for Los Alamos Public Schools, I have worked with teachers to focus on improving instruction through the design and implementation of learning targets. Learning targets help teachers break content into small chunks so that they can create activities that engage students in learning targeted skills that are assessed at the end of the lesson. Even though online learning is a new format for many teachers and students, the principles of effective teaching and learning remain the same. I look forward to working with our teachers as we implement these principles into our online classrooms.

How are things going so far?

Every day, I receive messages from our families like this one expressing gratitude thatLAPS is providing this option for their students.

My kids are enrolled in LAOLA. Things are going so much better this year than I could have possibly expected. The teachers are organized, they keep the kids engaged, and the technology is working well, it is great!

We appreciate the support and encouragement that we are receiving from our students and families. It is a privilege to partner with the families in our community as we work and grow together to help our students learn and thrive.

Do you see the Online Learning Academy as part of the future of LAPS or just something for this year as we deal with the pandemic?

In many aspects our story closely resembles the story of our community. The community of Los Alamos was created by individuals who came together to work on a project to address a specific national security crisis. Because of their collective expertise and pioneering spirit, they were successful in eliminating that threat. However, the innovations and discoveries that have continued to take place at Los Alamos National Lab over the past seven decades have long surpassed the goals of that initial mission.

The pandemic may have brought us together, but our goal of providing every student with an opportunity to learn and thrive is the foundation of our purpose for the Los Alamos Online Learning Academy. After the current health crisis is over, we believe that the Academy will continue to provide the students and families of LAPS with another choice for receiving a high quality education.

What makes the Los Alamos Online Learning Academy stand out from other online education options?

The things that make Los Alamos Online Learning Academy stand out from other online education options is our teachers and students. The daily learning program for each student attending the Academy is designed and delivered by a highly qualified teacher wholives and works in our community. These teachers have access to the same resources, training, and support that are available to every Los Alamos Public School teacher. Along with the strong relationships that students are able to have with their teachers, the Academy also provides an opportunity for students to connect and form friendships with their peers who live and share many of the same experiences and values found within our community.

The roadrunner was chosen for the Los Alamos Online Learning Academymascot because it is an animal unique to New Mexico just as our school is unique to LAPS. Furthermore, the roadrunner symbolizes intelligence, courage, and the ability to face dangers and difficulties with a positive attitude.

The original artwork for our logo with the phrase defying expectations was created for our school in memory of an individual who exemplified the spirit and passion of the roadrunner and the fulfillment of our school mission.

Our goal remains the same: to ensure that all of our students are learning and have the same opportunity to thrive, Dr. Fogle said.

Supt. Kurt Steinhaus said: I am pleased that we can offer this high-quality option for LAPS students and parents. This is one more example of our goal to provide flexibility for parents and student-centered options for children. Lets all say thank you to Dr. Fogle for leaning in and taking this new and exciting challenge.

For more information, check out the Los Alamos Online Learning Academy website: https://sites.google.com/laschools.net/los-alamos-online-learning-aca/home?authuser=0

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Los Alamos Online Learning Academy Goal Is To Ensure All Students Are Learning And Have Same Opportunity To Thrive - Los Alamos Reporter

September 21, 2020 08:00 ET | Source: Jitterbit

ALAMEDA, Calif., Sept. 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jitterbit, the API transformation company, today revealed the results of The Future State of Higher Education report, which examines how institutions are preparing for the future. Ninety-two percent of respondents said COVID-19 is the greatest challenge higher education institutions have faced, and many are struggling to adapt to this new environment. The report details how education institutions have set up remote-learning technology, what challenges they're encountering in doing so, and what tools they've invested in to help overcome those challenges.

According to the Davidson University research, roughly a third of higher education institutions, including some of the nation's largest public universities, will offer primarily online education this year. Responses from the Jitterbit survey suggest that remote learning is a huge priority, and higher education institutions are looking to provide personalized experiences by connecting multiple systems. There are many different learning styles, from visual to auditory to solitary to social learning, so the key is to provide a blended learning experience using the right technologies that map to different learning styles for optimal learning experiences.

"To help provide the best experience possible for students, institutions are turning to everything from communication tools to learning management solutions and even virtual reality," said Shekar Hariharan, vice president of marketing at Jitterbit. "This report shows the lengths these institutions are going to ensure the highest-quality education for remote learners. It also highlights just how many different systems these schools must now operate. The ability to connect these platforms for a seamless experience for students, educators, and administrators is crucial.

Health, Safety, and Smooth Transitions a Priority The survey indicated that both student safety as well as their ability to learn online are top priorities for higher education institutions. Nearly 70% of respondents said, "providing a safe, healthy, and productive environment for students to learn in" is their top priority for the 2020 academic year. More than one-third (35%) listed needing the ability to seamlessly move from in-person classes to remote learning as a top priority.

Creating a welcoming online environment is not without its challenges. A majority (52%) of respondents said that giving lectures or showing slides is one of the biggest challenges to remote learning and also an activity that needs improvement. The two biggest areas that were identified as areas for improvement include the ability to help at-risk students, and student collaboration.

Faced with uncertainty, higher education institutions are investing in a broad range of tools to transition to remote learning. These technologies offer promise for a more seamless transition, but they also represent complexity. How institutions connect these tools and leverage the data they provide will go a long way toward ensuring a seamless, engaging remote-learning experience for students.

To gather more insights from Jitterbits The Future State of Higher Education report:

About Jitterbit, Inc. Jitterbit, the API transformation company, makes it quicker and easier for businesses to exploit data from any source, empowering them to rapidly innovate and make faster, more effective decisions. The Jitterbit Harmony API integration platform and API360 solutions enable companies to quickly connect SaaS, on-premises, and cloud applications and instantly infuse intelligence into any business process. To learn more, visit http://www.jitterbit.com and follow @Jitterbit on Twitter.

Contact: Jitterbit@bocacommunications.com

Read more from the original source:
Jitterbit's Future State of Higher Education Report Uncovers Challenges of the Move to Remote Learning - GlobeNewswire